Facebook can be a useful tool in lead generation marketing, especially with its new features that help businesses market their products and services directly. However, over the course of Facebook’s time as a public, for-profit company, it has seen its fair share of criticism for not doing enough to help brands use the network to generate revenue.

Although, the second quarter of 2012 looked a lot better than the first for businesses using Facebook as a selling tool. In fact, total average F-commerce revenue grew 38 percent on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Additionally, more businesses are jumping on board – about 26 percent more Facebook stores operating in the second quarter, despite a lackluster Q1, Search Engine Watch reports.

The social media service allows businesses to set up a Facebook store. This web storefront can complement total e-commerce revenue streams, and on average, 22 percent comes directly from Facebook, according to the source.

As more organizations begin experimenting with Facebook as a marketing and sales avenue, strategies will start to emerge that show the networking tool is more than capable of affecting sales margins. With over 900 million active users, the platform is a great space for professionals to use in their promotional efforts, as it can build brand image and create a significant following.

In just over a few months, F-commerce has already seen a dramatic uptick, and this can only lead more users to allocate funds to marketing through the network. While Facebook is a long way away from becoming the leading factor in driving profit margins, it should continue to demand more funding in the future from businesses looking to add more social initiatives to its branding arsenal.

About the author

Martin Jones

Martin Jones is a Sr. Marketing Marketing Manager with the corporate Cox Communications social media team where he assists in leading strategy, campaign ideation and marketing execution for Cox Business social media & content marketing. Today, over 1 million fans engage with Cox Communications content, campaigns and Customer Care on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube. LinkedIn and Google+.